Is freelance writing a lost cause?

Servin Laypa said:

He's obviously offering something where the market is not flooded with lowballers.

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Great, so how do you notify prospective clients on Fiverr of your existence, when you have something to offer?
Having something to offer, and not being a lowballer, does not automatically imbue you with the magical power of being noticed.

CoreCellar said:

Great, so how do you notify prospective clients on Fiverr of your existence, when you have something to offer?
Having something to offer, and not being a lowballer, does not automatically imbue you with the magical power of being noticed.

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It does actually. If you're selling a rare service you list the service and the buyers search for those keywords and your gig shows up in results.

Servin Laypa said:

It does actually. If you're selling a rare service you list the service and the buyers search for those keywords and your gig shows up in results.

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Can you provide an example under writing?
I'm pretty sure that each category is covered by hundreds of offers.

CoreCellar said:

Can you provide an example under writing?
I'm pretty sure that each category is covered by hundreds of offers.

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I don't think NoHype was talking about writing gigs, those probably are saturated so he must be selling gigs in another niche with low competition and high barriers to entry.

Even so, you could be creative with your gig title by tossing in keywords that would show up in searches other than those started by 99% of writers where the search would be done by someone looking for something other than an article but who would buy an article anyway. Some keyword that SEOs look for such as IFTTT, "high trust flow PBN", "web 2.0 PBN".

Yes it's totally possible even on Fiverr. If you want to go the Fiverr route, make two accounts and buy your gig a few times leaving 5 star reviews. You can also bid on jobs using the Fiverr system.

If you want to go a slightly more difficult but more lucrative route, approach small businesses with blogs, social media etc, and offer to write articles or posts for them. Gauge their interest then write a sample post instead of a conventional application if you don't have any qualifications.

Hello OP. As a writer at BHW and a couple of other places, I have to tell you that I have managed to make in excess of $200 a day several times. However, it is tough work that results in quite a few burnouts. The constant process of writing for niches in which you have no interest in can really take a toll on you. I personally have had some success as an affiliate marketer and didn't write for any clients for almost 2 years. Now, because of Google penalties and difficulty with ranking on Google, I am back to writing for clients and it is going all right at BHW.

Your language seems to be good and I don't see a problem why you shouldn't be making even $350 a week, let alone a month! But, you have to start slow. Offer free samples and then offer to write at a rate that is lower than others. Once you have a legacy, you can bump up your rates and people will be more than willing to pay you. I started at $0.75 per 100 words. Then $1.00, then $1.50 and am at $2. I can probably charge more and have charged up to $5 per 100 words elsewhere. Being from India, it is tough to break the mindset of people who immediately rule out "Non-English" speakers. There's nothing you can do about it though. As a foreign writer, you will always only be picking up breadcrumbs when you start charging higher rates. Unless you have a phenomenal profile.

Gotta head out urgently. Will drop by later to give you a few more thoughts.

And like BassTrackerBoats said in an earlier post, writing for others should never be a long term career option. As a writer, you have the biggest weapon it takes to build great sites, that in the form of content. SEO, social traffic and other things to go along with your writing will make you handsome living. It takes time though.

You're saying Fiverr is useless yet you're not at your goal. What's up with the hesitance to just give it a go... would it really hurt you to just setup an account and a gig and start offering your services... JUST to see what happens?

That is business. You don't always sit around waiting for the perfect idea. You keep executing ideas until you find one or some that work.

You can earn a lot by writing. I believe that every person has writing skills. Than you can make it as your profession. I am copy writer in contentmart. If you know English very well than you can earn a lot a copy writer or content writer. And their payment method also very easy and trustworthy. You can place your bid and if client choose you than you will get the work.

If you speak and write in more than one language you can probably make some decent money doing translations. The online gaming industry usually looks for people to translate their copy.

Sherb said:

Your writing ability is impressive from your post content.

Charge more.

People thought I was out of my mind for charging what I charged in my content sales thread. But I charged it and got customers who were willing to pay what I wanted for my writing. And that was without any samples.

I made on average $1,800 per month from just the writing gig for a little over three months, and probably put 10-15 hours a week into it max.

Charge more.

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Agreed with this. Good writers tend to undercharge and/or overestimate the abilities of other writers.

I wish $350 is enough to live my life.

A pint of beer here already costs $12.

CoreCellar said:

Yup, I'm from central Europe.

I'm surprised you mentioned Fiverr, the most inundated marketplace of them all. Completely useless.

P.S.
Could a moderator move this topic to "Associated Content & Writing Articles", I think it would be more appropriate.

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You are very correct about fiver been flooded and completely useless.. I get shocked when members here make reference to fiver...

NoHypeNeeded said:

Well, no, not really, this account I'm using I've had for a year. It's legit been up for a year. And again -- it doesn't matter if you know what you're doing. Just because you DON'T know what you're doing doesn't make Fiverr useless.

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Crap.. Fiverr is useless.. To many shady guys..

I am a freelancer just like you. The best way to manage your expenses is to not rely on just one thing. For instance, I also run a dropshipping store that makes decent money.

I'd suggest you to try the same thing if possible.

360command said:

You are very correct about fiver been flooded and completely useless.. I get shocked when members here make reference to fiver...

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360command said:

Crap.. Fiverr is useless.. To many shady guys..

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When you say Fiverr is useless, do you mean as a buyer of Services? Because then I could see an argument. As a freelancer or a seller on Fiverr, there is for sure opportunity and money to be made from Fiverr. I get shocked when people speak on what they obviously don't know, and as I mentioned, just because you're not profiting from the platform or using it right doesn't mean it can't be done. I usually make around $200/week from Fiverr and have found some of my best Social Media/SEO monthly clients from the platform. Now, $200/week isn't a lot, but it's a start for some people here. As mentioned by @Bella Lopez it's even better (not just on Fiverr but as a freelancer) if you combine it with another venture, like a drop shipping store, social media agency, etc.

This is something hard to do in long run. You need to scale up and hire help as you grow. If you are aiming at low paying clients, they are not loyal. But, if you offer exceptional quality, you can expect some regular work.

If you're just starting out in freelance writing or struggling to make money, I'd recommend joining content mill sites, although, I wouldn't recommend working on them long-term. Textbroker is one of the biggest content mills, and you should have no trouble finding work there. If you can get in as a 4-star writer, you could hit your $350/month goal with probably 30-40 hours of work. Textbroker pays weekly and always has work available, so that'd be my number-one recommendation.

Edit: Just saw you're from Europe. I believe Textbroker only accepts US-based writers. I'm not sure what sites accept Europeans, so I'd recommend checking out this site, which offers a list of writing sites and other money-making sites.

It is more than possible for you to earn way more than $350 a month, but it will take some work and time. Your English seems more than adequate to write quality content. There are a number of options available out there for you to earn that kind of money. Check out some of the freelance websites. I don't know where you are located, however, there are tons of people that focus on getting the work and then pay someone like you $1 per 100 words to do the writing. Go to google and do a search for writing job boards and freelance websites. That alone should be plenty to get you moving.

My wife has had some small successes with Fiverr so I know it can do the job, but it does seem a bit overwhelming to get started when you look at the mountain of offers within any given niche. The trick seems to be standing out. After that, it seems to be all about delivering the goods and not receiving negative ratings. Honestly, I look at ratings and reviews before I even look too deeply at the offered product. So...how to stand out?

The art of writing is going through a slump. My friends who run their own businesses have shown me resumes that they receive commonly that are literally written using sms/text codes. The written ones are better but not as articulate as 10 years ago. The well written articulate and thought out resumes are in the upper 5%. I could foresee a time sooner rather than later when learning how to write well becomes a priority subject at school again. Either that or they'll have developed AI that can do it all for us.

As in everything online, you surely will not be the first person to offer any service but if you really love what you are doing and know it well you can find a way to stand out from the crowd.